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Sunday, 25 January 2015

Vihiga parents want head teachers moved

Nahashon Obwonya

Education officials in Luanda, Vihiga county have recommended for the transfer of a headteacher rejected by parents on opening day.Parents of Waluka Primary School had demanded for the removal of the head, Naftali Opicha over poor performance of pupils in national exams and lack of accountability over expenditure of school funds.Luanda assistant education officer Joseph Lukuyu who addressed a stormy parents meeting said the transfer was meant to ensure learning is not disrupted after parents vowed to block Opicha’s entry into the school. The chairman of the school management committee Jairus Olubuyi accused local education officers and teachers union officials of defending Opicha against overwhelming evidence of mismanagement of school funds.Olubuyi claimed that no receipts have been issued to parents paying school levies for the past two years whereas Opicha cannot account for Sh500,000 allocated to the school from the local CDF kitty. Due to the non-accountability, the school has been denied funding from the CDF.Olubuyi further claimed that Opicha does not involve the committee in procurement of building material for school projects which he instead does single-handedly. Local Knut executive secretary Dan Andafu said the union does not protect errant union members and asked teachers to adhere to the TSC code of regulations and at the same time asked parents to cooperate with teachers to ensure learning goes on smoothly. Among those who attended the parents meeting were Luanda Knut secretary Dan Andafu, treasurer clement Opole, Wekhomo chief Wellingtone Tiko and director of education department of Church of God, the school Rev Gasper Alela.Last year, the stakeholders, school management committee members and parents called for an audit of the i Opicha.Reasons advanced revolve on how he collects and spends Parents Teachers and Association funds without involving the executive of school management commitee, how he spends Sh450,000 from CDF without involving the project committee members and why he used three officers and Knut executive to remove chairman Luka Olenja after he questioned spending of the school levies alone.Questions were raised on how he spent money from the special children department and Afya Two in the year 2012, how he spent the money from the sale of two school cows worth Sh30,000, how he spent over Sh60,000 on a plot less than an acre rented by the school which gave a harvest of seven bags of maize and 32 gorogoros of beans. The 2013 financial report read by the school treasurer Glady’s Otieno to the parents prepared by the headteacher was not explaining how the money was spent. In the meeting that removed Luka Olenja as chairman of the school committee, five SMC members stated that the headteacher was not transparent in regard to finances.They were Shem Ombeyi sponsor, Luka Olenja outgoing chairman, Zaphania Oriedo former treasurer, Silas Makomele DEB, Gladys Otieno parent representative.The headteacher was accused of not using a single cent have for building the school from the 2008 free primary education kitty.He only built one classroom for the three years and nobody knows how he spent the CDF cash.The headteacher is accussed of obtaining money from parents by asking children to pay Sh200 for tuition yet tuition was banned. The same is said to be happening at the neighbouring Hobunaka Primary School. The school board is accusing the headteacher of lack of transparency and accountability in every transaction he effects.